The History of the English Language, Vol. 3: 1476-1776

This volume of the  History of the English Language encompasses three centuries of immense cultural change, from Caxton in the late Middle Ages to the American Declaration of Independence and the beginnings of Romanticism. During this period, Middle English became Early Modern English and then developed into the early stages of indisputably "modern" English. This book traces developments in orthography and punctuation, phonology and morphology, syntax, lexis and semantics, regional and social variation, and the literary language. It also contains a glossary of linguistic terms and an extensive bibliography

Contents

1. Introduction Roger Lass; 2. Orthography and punctuation Vivian Salmon; 3. Phonology and morphology Roger Lass; 4. Syntax Matti Rissanen; 5. Lexis and semantics Terttu Nevalainen; 6. Regional and social variation Manfred Görlach; 7. Literary language Sylvia Adamson; Glossary of linguistic terms; Bibliography.